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Charred bodies of ISIL fighters suggest abuse |
Over the last weekend of the month of November, Russian
military leaders reacted to Western criticism of Russia’s support to the Syrian
government to retake eastern Aleppo from armed groups. They countered by accusing the U.S. and
its allies of double standard. They suggested, essentially, that what the Syrian
government is doing in Aleppo is not any different from what the Iraqi
government is doing in Mosul. On Monday November 1, the State Department “slammed
Moscow's comparison”, calling it "ludicrous" and "insulting." Curiously, it was actually a Western media outlet, The
Independent (see below), from UK, that first made the comparison on October 21, in one of
its lead stories, Compare the coverage of Mosul and East Aleppo and it tells
you a lot about the propaganda we consume.
Explaining the reasons the U.S. administration felt
that such a comparison is insulting, State Department spokesman John Kirby said:
“I mean, in Aleppo you’ve got the regime laying siege to a city with the support of their biggest backer, Russia. In Mosul you have an entire coalition of some 66 nations who have planned for months, so with the vast support and legitimacy of the international community, to retake a city from Daesh over a period of months in support of Iraqi Security Forces.”
It must be noted that, anticipating Western criticism,
Russia had suspended its airstrikes on the city of Aleppo weeks before the
Syrian government forces and their allies started their operation in east
Aleppo. The Russian military insisted that it had halted its airstrikes in
early October, “to allow civilians to leave the city through six humanitarian
corridors established by the Syrian government.”
Resisting the comparison is purely political as it
serves no real purpose in terms of ending the tragedy the Syrian and Iraqi
peoples have endured in the last five years. Those who reject the comparison are
also behind the selective use of violent armed groups to achieve political goals. There is
no doubt that both the Iraqi and Syrian peoples are subjected to horrific
conditions, most of which are not of their own doing. Their suffering is the
direct outcome of activities by regional and global powers who are using destabilizing these two countries to pursue
geopolitical and economic interests.
The comparison is sound, and it should unite all thse countries who claim concern for the Syrian people
to focus on ending this crisis. The comparison of the situations in Mosul and
Aleppo has merits. Here is why.
Aleppo
|| Mosul
________________________________________________________________________
* Used to be
the largest city in Syria || * Used to be the second largest city in Iraq
* Inhabited
by predominantly Sunni Muslims || * Inhabited by predominantly Sunni Muslims
* Taken over
by predominantly Salafi militants || * Taken
over by predominantly Salafi militants
* Being
recaptured by government forces and ||
*Being recaptured by government forces and
allies including,
|| allies including,
# Syrian
military units || # Iraq military units
# Syrian security
and police units ||
# Iraq security and police units
# Shia paramilitary
units
|| # Shia paramilitary units
# Palestinian
paramilitary units || # Turkman paramilitary units
# Tribal paramilitary
units
|| # Tribal paramilitary
units
# Kurdish paramilitary
units
|| # Kurdish paramilitary units
# Foreign governments’
military units || # Foreign governments’ military units
(authorized
by the UN recognized Syrian ||
(authorized by the UN Iraqi government)
Government
||
* Nusra and
its allied control 225,000 civilians
|| * ISIL controls 1,200,00 civilians in the city
in the
city of Aleppo || of Mosul
* US coalition
not authorized by Syrian || * US coalition authorized by
the Iraqi government
government
|| but Russia not
authorized by Iraqi government
* Civilians
used as human shields by armed group || * Civilians used as human shields by ISIL
* Civilians
are killed in the operation
|| * Civilians are killed in the operation
* All sides
might have violated international laws ||
* All sides might have violated international laws
governing armed
conflicts
|| governing armed conflicts
===================================================
The only difference between the Iraqi and Syrian
situations is that, while there is a consensus among most world governments to
support the Iraqi government retake its cities from terrorists, a handful of
governments including current U.S. administration, the French government,
Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, have committed themselves to overthrowing Bashar
Assad by any means necessary, including the use of al-Qaeda derivatives to achieve
that main objective. It is this political goal, and nothing else, that is
prolonging the carnage in Syria, which is, now, having some affect on neighboring countries.
_____________________________________________
Headlines reacting to comparing Mosul to Aleppo:
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